StaTuesday: Wild own top-scoring line in NHL

Before the season began, Mikael Granlund moved to right wing after spending most of his first four seasons as the Wild’s No. 2 center, joining forces with Minnesota captain Mikko Koivu on the Wild’s second line.

On Nov. 25, Boudreau added speedy left wing Jason Zucker to the mix, replacing an underperforming Zach Parise with a forward looking to break out following a disappointing season.

It’s a strategy that’s paid dividends for Boudreau and Co.

Granlund and Zucker are in the midst of career seasons, while Koivu is turning back the clock in his age-33 season.

They’ve combined for 52 goals this season, and much of that production has come while they’re on the ice together.

Zucker, Koivu and Granlund have generated 35 goals while playing together, more than any other single unit in the league.

Team

F1

F2

F3

GF

GA

MIN

JASON ZUCKER

MIKKO KOIVU

MIKAEL GRANLUND

35

9

TOR

JAMES VAN RIEMSDYK

MITCHELL MARNER

TYLER BOZAK

34

28

CHI

PATRICK KANE

ARTEM ANISIMOV

ARTEMI PANARIN

28

17

ANA

JAKOB SILFVERBERG

ANDREW COGLIANO

RYAN KESLER

26

17

CBJ

CAM ATKINSON

BRANDON DUBINSKY

BOONE JENNER

25

15

CBJ

NICK FOLIGNO

ALEXANDER WENNBERG

BRANDON SAAD

24

16

TOR

CONNOR BROWN

ZACH HYMAN

AUSTON MATTHEWS

23

14

BOS

DAVID PASTRNAK

PATRICE BERGERON

BRAD MARCHAND

22

16

NYI

JOHN TAVARES

JOSH BAILEY

ANDERS LEE

22

18

CGY

MATTHEW TKACHUK

MIKAEL BACKLUND

MICHAEL FROLIK

21

14

Statistics courtesy Leftwinglock.com

And while the trio doesn’t generate the shooting attempts that James Van Riemsdyk, Mitch Marner and Tyler Bozak do for the Toronto Maple Leafs, they’ve been remarkably effective in the offensive end.

The Zucker-Koivu-Granlund line leads the NHL with 35 goals as a unit, one more than Van Riemsdyk, Marner and Bozak, while converting on a blistering 14.71 percent of their shots on goal.

The website Left Wing Lock lists 10 different line combinations for the Wild this season, but only one has played together more than 10 percent of the time.

The Zucker-Koivu-Granlund line is on the ice together 16.51 percent of the time, nearly double the usage of the Wild’s other lines.